Browsing Hand Strength

Old-Time Strongman Seminar Part 4

Just a few pictures left from the Oldetime Strongmen University.

Have you ever tried to drive a nail through a board using your hand as the hammer? Dennis shows us how. I hadn’t really done this one before hand but if you want to learn how Dennis has got the DVD on it, How to Drive a Nail without a Hammer.

Nail Driving

How about a little bending. Pat destroys JUST a Red Nail. Piece of cake.

Bending Red Nail

My friend Tyler with a little scrolling action.

Scrolling behind Neck

And myself levering a sword down to my nose. Usually I use sledgehammers for this feat but the 27 lb. sword had to be attempted. A little more awkward but since all the weight is not only on the tip its much easier than a 27 lb. sledgehammer would be.

Levering Sword

That’s my conclusion of showing you a bit of what happened. What’s important is what comes next though. Applying the lessons and feats learned to the present and future.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Oldtime Strongmen and Hand Strength and Feats of Strength - Date: Friday 22 August 2008 - Comments: None

Old-Time Strongmen Seminar Part 3

Here’s a few other people from the seminar performing various feats of strength.

First up, we have Aaron McKenzie doing one of the feats he’s best at. Tearing a deck of cards in two. It pretty amazing that he’s now one of the best, probably second only to Dennis, when not all that long ago he got started tearing just 9 cards.

Mighty Mac Card Tear

Big John McGrath of Ireland. After a valiant struggle against this monster bar. Unfortunately I don’t remember the exact size at this time but no doubt is was a big and tough bend. If you’re ever in Ireland stop by Waterford Martial Arts.

John Big Iron Bend

And then there was Greg Matonick. An old-timer (and of course I mean that in the best possible light) who shared many, many great stories with us youngins. Here he is doing one of his specialties. Using his strong jaw as a vice to bend a horseshoe. He also mangles quarters the same way, believe it or not.

Horseshoe Bent in Teeth

Of all the feats this is one I don’t recommend you try at home. Your dentist would not be happy.

As you can see the field of what’s possible and doable is far and wide. What can you become one of the best at?

In strength,
Logan Christopher

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Oldtime Strongmen and Hand Strength and Feats of Strength - Date: Monday 18 August 2008 - Comments: None

Old-Time Strongmen Seminar Part 2

Today we feature two rising stars in the small world of performing strongman. You may never have heard the name Chris Rider before. But you will now and definitely more in the future.

In just over a year of practicing these feats he is already one of the top guys. Here are a few pictures of him destroying a big horseshoe. This thing was a beast.

Chris Rider Horsehoe 1

 

Chris Rider Horsehoe 3

Pat Poviliatus is known as the best horseshoe bender in the world, but that title may soon fall to Chris. You can see the determination of his face. But you don’t get to see the full effort he put out in order to complete this bend. Or hear his yells.

It was awe-inspiring and gave a glimpse of why these guys are so good. They’re willing to push themselves to levels that would scare most people.

He also has strong hair. Although there’s no picture we all witnessed him snap a chain in half using his hair.

Mike ‘the Machine’ Bruce is the other. He has the World’s Strongest Neck but that’s not all. Here we have Tim Fox jumping off a ladder onto his stomach. Yeah, he’s got strong abs too.

Strong Abs

But one of the most amazing feats involved both Chris and Mike. Combining their abilities as only they could. Chris bending a horseshoe across the throat of Mike. Another picture of intensity.

Horseshoe bent on neck

These guys were good, no doubt. But they’re also some of the friendliest people I know (everyone at the event was). It was a pleasure to meet and get to know them.

Check out their blogs at the following to find out more about them and their feats:

Mike the Machine
Chris Rider

In strength,
Logan Christopher

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Oldtime Strongmen and Hand Strength and Mental Training and Feats of Strength - Date: Thursday 14 August 2008 - Comments: None

Old-Time Strongmen Seminar Part 1

Where do I begin?

How about a brief synopsis. I was in Houston to learn from one of the strongest men in the world, Dennis Rogers. Even among the students there we had some very strong guys. Like ‘The Human Vise’ Pat Povilaitis, Mike ‘The Machine’ Bruce, and Chris ‘As of yet no real nickname’ Rider.

And everyone else was strong too but these men stand out. When you get around this caliber of individuals you’re pretty much expected to tear phonebooks and decks of cards in half. To mangle various sizes of steel with your bare hands.

Today I share a few pictures of the materials in the strongman trade. Here’s a few prize pieces signed and kept by Dennis.

Bent Steel

It’s hard to tell the size of some of the objects but the common objects (like the coffee cup) should give you a frame of reference. Here’s a close up of the ‘S’ wrenches.

Betn Wrench in S

Here’s a hammer done by Chris Rider in the same manner. Very cool looking.

Hammer bent in S

And now for a before and after shot of tearing through many phonebooks.  And no, we weren’t quite done yet. I believe everyone was destroyed. One great thing about the seminar was we all had the opportunity to not only do a feat but get one-on-one attention and all our questions answered.

Phonebooks

Torn Phonebooks

That’ll give you an idea of some of the feats the best can perform. Next time I’ll show you a few feats as they’re being performed.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

P.S. This kind of training isn’t for everyone. But if you want to do be able to do any of these feats or similar there is one man to turn to, Dennis Rogers.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Oldtime Strongmen and Hand Strength and Feats of Strength - Date: Tuesday 12 August 2008 - Comments: None

A Talk with John Brookfield

Was on the phone with John Brookfield yesterday. We had an extremely interesting and enlightening conversation.

If you don’t know who John Brookfield is let me fill you in. He’s strong. Really strong. And not just in his grip (though he’s written not THE but THE TWO books on hand strength) as he’s well known for.

He’s extremely well conditioned and strong all around. In fact he’s set a number of world record’s that are crazy in strength and endurance.

The best part is I recorded it and am going to make it available to you soon.

A few of the things he said, opened my eyes to some new possibilities. Just one thing we talked about concerning kettlebell juggling that I applied today, kicked my butt.

At it was all across the board in what we covered.

Even though I was interviewing him, I can hardly wait to re-listen to it and take down more notes.

So consider this a head’s up and look for my email about it next week.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Oldtime Strongmen and Hand Strength and Feats of Strength - Date: Friday 25 July 2008 - Comments: None

Kettlebells and Arm Wrestling

Thought I’d go into another question today. This one is from Olof in Sweden

Hi Logan

I really like your blog and all you put in to your different sites. By occasion the former 5 time world champion master in Arm wrestling com by my small shop ( its so new so we just put it in order for the moment ) looked at our Kettlebells, told us he never heard about KBs before.

But, he was thrilled, and want me to start training the local Arm wrestling club with Kettlebells.

What sort of work out would you suggest for these athletes?

Best regard Olof

Thank you, Olof. This is a good question. And here’s why. It delves into the topic of when you should be using what tool.

If the guy is the 5 time world champion, I think the best advice would be to stick with what he’s knows. It must work!

However much I love kettlebells, in this case, they are not best suited to the job.

This ties into the discussion of functional strength. His function is to put other people’s arms down. To build that function you need stronger arms, wrists and hands.

From what I’ve seen of high level arm wrestlers, in their training they do lots of curls in various positions and lots of hand work.

The kettlebell does not lend itself to being curled. Yes, you can throw a towel around the handle and curl, but that’s not what it‘s best at.

There are ways you could use it to help out, but once again it’s not the best tool.

If you want to use the kettlebell for general fitness and strength just stick with the basics for these athletes. The swings, snatches, presses, etc.

On top of that they could do their specialization work (which should of course include lots of arm wrestling).

Though it may not be what you have wanted to hear, I hope it helps.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Remember you can ask your questions here

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Strength Training Ideas and Hand Strength and Kettlebells - Date: Wednesday 9 July 2008 - Comments: 2 Comments

Odd Object Lifting

Been re-reading the strength training classic Dinosaur Training.

If you don’t have the book, get your hands on it. Plus Brooks Kubik, has a new website.

One of the things I’ve added into my training is the lifting of a heavy odd object. I’ve got a unique tool named Big Red. I’ll get a video of lifting it sometime soon.

It’s a great way to finish the workout. An all out set against the iron to leave you winded and muscles aching.

Odd objects build strength that something like a barbell can replicate. Barrels, kegs, sandbags, and the like will take all your effort to stabilize the shifting and moving weight.

There are other objects that don’t move on you, but still aren’t easily managed. A large rock or log for instance. Something without an easy to grip surface or handles.

You could classify kettlebells or clubbells the same way. Certainly for a person who has never lifted them they are awkward. But once you put in thousands of reps they cease to be.

In addition odd objects tend to work the grip in a big way. You have to hang on and tighten up just to prevent the object from falling out of your hands.

However you train, you’d be wise to add some sort of odd object training in. They’re a bunch of tools that will build strength that can’t be gotten elsewhere. Good for training and great for feats of strength too.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Odd Object Lifting and Strength Training Ideas and Hand Strength and Feats of Strength - Date: Monday 16 June 2008 - Comments: None

King of Bodyweight Exercises, Brad Johnson

I was on the phone with Brad Johnson yesterday talking about training.

If you don’t know who Brad Johnson is you’re missing out. This guy is pretty much the king of bodyweight exercises. And I’m not talking about hundreds and thousands of reps.

I’m talking strong, like one finger, one hand chinnups. Dragon flags with added weight. And so much more.

If you don’t have his book, Bodyweight Exercises for Extraordinary Strength, you need to pick it up at Ironmind. Only $13.95.

Anyway, one of the main things he’s been into recently is rafter work, as in using a pinch grip to support himself. Pullups, chinnups, walking, swinging and turning around. Truly incredible stuff.

He’s gotten so good because he loves to train like this. More than once he got blisters on his hands because he spent over an hour training on the rafters.

Having fun with your training is what I just wrote about. Then I get on the phone with someone performing at this high level taking about the exact same thing. Think you ought to pay attention?

When you get excited and can’t wait to train you’re going to get good.

If you’re thinking you’d have fun too if you could swing from rafters but you’re not good enough to even come close, your mind’s in the wrong place.

No one starts out that good. Have fun with what you can do and build from there.

I can’t hang from rafters…yet…but training progressively and having fun along the way I’ll get there. You can too.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Brad was quite impressed with my kettlebell juggling. I just added a new video to the kettlebell juggling blog with a few tricks you’ve likely never seen before. Make sure you sign up to get the updates.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Strength Training Ideas and Hand Strength and Bodyweight Exercise and Feats of Strength - Date: Friday 13 June 2008 - Comments: None

Kettlebell Juggling Website is Live

There’s a whole new website up. This one’s all about kettlebell juggling.

As you may know I think kettlebell juggling is one of the most fun ways to get stronger and better conditioned. And I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years.

The site is at www.kettlebelljuggling.com. Nice name, eh?

But all the action is going to be happening at the kettlebell juggling blog.

You’ll notice that there’s another place to sign up for email updates. This one is separate from the emails I’ll be sending from www.legendarystrength.com.

You can sign up to get notified of every new post which will probably be once or twice a week, not as often as on this list. If your interested in kettlebell juggling or just want to see more awesome videos be sure to sign up. There’ll be more showy videos as well as videos that teach the techniques.

And let me know if you like the video. Post your comments on the kettlebell juggling blog.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Hand Strength and Kettlebells - Date: Monday 9 June 2008 - Comments: None

How to Bend Nails

Yet another article is up on the site. This one delves into the feat of strength known as nail bending.

Even if you’re not interested in bending nails for the sake of bending nails, you might want to try it out for the strength you’ll build in your hands, wrists, and whole body.

There’s also a video in the article showing me bending a 60D nail.

I had to take a couple months off of bending because of some elbow troubles but I got back into it in the past two weeks. Unfortunately right now the 60D nails are still tough for me. The video shows my forth and last bend in the workout. The funny thing is this was my best bend.

So go check out the article to learn how to bend steel with your hands.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Bumpzee
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Mixx
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • YahooMyWeb
  • Google
Category: Hand Strength and Videos and Feats of Strength - Date: Wednesday 4 June 2008 - Comments: None